Autism may force schools to shift money

Amity Regional School District officials say it just doesn't make sense: Why is the district being punished for having too many white autistic kids?

And it's the federal government's punishment that is raising tempers: cutting the crucial funding used to eductate the austistic students.

It's a thorny issue for all sides. When one racial group -- black, white or otherise -- appears to be getting a disproportionate amount of special education funding, red flags go up at the federal Department of Education. But local educators said they are powerless to control the racial makeup of their community and who is diagnosed with autism, which is under the special education umbrella.

Autism rates are skyrocketing, with the lastest studies showing 1 in every 110 children on the autism spectrum. Properly educating austistic children is extremely expensive, and local districts rely on federal funding to offset the cost to taxpayers. The issue also hints at a hidden trend: parents of autistic children may be moving to certain communities because the public school district has a good reputation for educating autistic children.

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Amity Superintendent of Schools John Brady's dilemma began last year when the district -- which serves Bethany, Orange and Woodbridge -- received a letter from the state Department of Education. The state told Amity it has too many white students who are diagnosed as autistic when compared to other racial subgroups. Amity last year had 38 white, one Asian, and one black autistic student.

Amity and Vernon are the only two school systems in the state and among only a handful nationwide to have a "significant disproportionate" amount of white autistic students, state officials said.

Such a classification requires the district to divert 15 percent of its Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) federal funds toward programs designed to reduce those numbers.

Thirteen other districts in the state, including Torrington, along with Derby, Hamden, North Haven and Orange, have high numbers of autistic students but are not yet threatened with an order to divert funds.

If the number of white autistic students does not decline, districts may face the further loss of federal funds, which would have to be absorbed by taxpayers, Brady said. It's an issue of which the Torrington School District has been aware for some time. The board openly discussed the growing number of autistic students at a meeting in 2008, but, according to board member and former board chairman Paul Cavagnero, the discussions began long before that.

"We have been aware of a growing population of children with autism for the past six years," Cavagnero said.

Mary Kuseler, assistant director for the Washington-based American Association of School Administrators, said communities find themselves in this delicate situation because of the 2004 federal IDEA law.

The law guarantees a free and appropriate education for people with disabilities. But over the years, officials started to notice increasing numbers of referrals for black males into special education.

The feds wanted to ensure students were not over identified as being in need of special education. There was a concern that some teachers, especially in impoverished districts, would identify students with behavioral issues as special education.

Kuseler said this meant many black males were taken out of a regular education classroom, when in fact they had no academic issues warranting special education classes.

Kuseler said lawmakers wanted to ensure students were not typecast and denied a regular education.

"It became a civil rights issue," Kuseler said. "It was a well intended rule, (to impose limits on numbers of autistic students in any district) but Amity has been caught by a rule that was never meant to be caught by. It's putting those districts in a tight position where they face the loss of money in a tough economy."

Officials from other districts with high numbers of autistic students said they empathize with Amity's plight, but also said there is nothing they can do to reverse the numbers, since autistic students must be educated.

North Haven Superintendent of Schools Sara-Jane R. Querfeld said doctors determine whether a child is autistic, so it's out of a school district's control.

"We're addressing what we can. It's a difficult thing. It's not under a district's control," she said.

Torrington School Superintendent Chris Leone emphasized that the district does not diagnose students with autism but, once diagnosed, it is the district's responsibility to educate those students.

"This is an important dialogue to have to start examining this issue. It's important to have this type of data," he said. "I have faith that the special education department has done it's job providing the necessary tools for autistic students."

In Torrington, 15.3 percent of the student body, received special education services in the district. By contrast, Torrington spent 25.8 percent of its budget on special education expenditures in 2007-08, which is a higher percentage than the average Connecticut school district (20.5 percent) as well as the average district in its demographic grouping (22.1 percent.)

The bulk of the money spent on special education goes to out-of-district spending, specifically, busing students with special needs to facilities that can provide them the proper care and education, according to the current Board of Education chairman, Frank Rubino.

So, rubino suggested, reduce transportation costs and reduce the the burden on taxpayers, while increasing the level of service at the same time.

To that end, the district has been playing with the idea of starting a special high school for students with special needs, or partnering with another facility, like the Connecticut Junior Republic or Charlotte Hungerford Hospital.